Tone Stack Calculator

Sure enough plugging your guitar in an amplifier to truly unleash its potential might feel like magic, but there’s a lot of engineering behind what makes the sound come out that way. In this regard, Tone Stack Calculator comes with a variety of tools and an interactive workstations to help you learn what makes an amplifier work.

Note that you don’t actually need to connect an instrument, or hook up an amp to your computer for the application to work. After a short and uneventful setup process you’re free to take it for a spin. You’re taken directly into the simulation window, and accommodation mostly consists of how well you understand circuit elements.

One the one hand, there’s a circuit representation of the selected amplifier type, and selecting a different one updates the image instantly. You can choose from a variety of amplifier types, like Marshall, Fender, Vox, James, E series, Bench, and Big muff.

Although the circuit representation comes in a rather small panel, you’re free to interact with all elements which are clearly displayed. Values are shown next to each element, while double-clicking one lets you select a different type of input, or modify default value, depending on the selected type of item.

On the other hand, there’s the frequency graph which updates in real time as you adjust intensity of bass, middle, and treble. Values shown are for frequency and decibels. Every amplifier type comes with its own frequency curve, and adjusting circuit parameters changes it. You can run a sweep check to view the entire frequency range, and save a picture of the graph.

All things considered, we can safely state that Tone Stack Calculator is a practical application in case you’re interested to know what’s going on inside your amplifier. Despite the slightly rough visual design, elements are easy to learn and work with, and no guitar or amp is required to make it work.